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A direct test of direct democracy: New England town meetings

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  • Robert Salvino
  • Michael T. Tasto
  • Geoffrey K. Turnbull

Abstract

Representative democracies govern most locales in the US, making it difficult to compare performance relative to direct democracy. New England states, however, provide an opportunity to test both direct and representative democracy at the local level. This article uses revealed preference axioms to compare spending patterns in New England towns and cities against median voter hypothesis benchmarks. Contrary to previous evidence, we find no differences between direct and representative democracy. The results suggest that horizontal competition arising from local fragmentation minimize differences between direct and representative local government, providing support for wider applicability of median voter-based empirical models of local government behaviour in the US.

Suggested Citation

  • Robert Salvino & Michael T. Tasto & Geoffrey K. Turnbull, 2012. "A direct test of direct democracy: New England town meetings," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 44(18), pages 2393-2402, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:taf:applec:44:y:2012:i:18:p:2393-2402
    DOI: 10.1080/00036846.2011.564148
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Holsey, Cheryl M., 1993. "Price and income distortions under separate spending and taxing decisions," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 50(1), pages 93-114, January.
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    Cited by:

    1. Zareh Asatryan, 2016. "The indirect effects of direct democracy: local government size and non-budgetary voter initiatives in Germany," International Tax and Public Finance, Springer;International Institute of Public Finance, vol. 23(3), pages 580-601, June.
    2. Zareh Asatryan & Thushyanthan Baskaran & Theocharis Grigoriadis & Friedrich Heinemann, 2017. "Direct Democracy and Local Public Finances under Cooperative Federalism," Scandinavian Journal of Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 119(3), pages 801-820, July.
    3. Geschwind, Stephan & Roesel, Felix, 2022. "Taxation under direct democracy," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 200(C), pages 536-554.
    4. Asatryan, Zareh, 2014. "The indirect effects of direct democracy: Local government size and non-budgetary voter initiatives," ZEW Discussion Papers 14-004, ZEW - Leibniz Centre for European Economic Research.

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